Molly Bloom: the story of the poker queen

Malta, November 12, 2023. CPA.Club in collaboration with SIGMA, unveils another exciting addition to its roster of events. This time, the much-anticipated Connect 2.0 Meetup is strategically timed ahead of the much sought-after SIGMA Europe Malta conference, scheduled from November 13 to 17, 2023.

The official part of the event features a speech by Molly Bloom — an internationally acclaimed speaker renowned for orchestrating some of history's most illustrious exclusive poker gatherings, attended by celebrities, politicians, and tycoons. During the Connect 2.0 Meetup, Molly Bloom will delve into the intricate realm of retention marketing and share strategies to effectively maintain a company's current client base while cultivating a profound sense of loyalty. Her presentation will culminate in a LIVE interview, during which Molly Bloom will answer the questions from the audience.

We want to introduce you closer to our star and tell you how she came to success.

A tale of ups and downs

Legendary for running the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game frequented by A-List Hollywood celebrities and sports figures, Molly Bloom is a top-booked inspirational speaker and one of Fortune’s (an American global business) Most Powerful Women. She shares a life journey of triumph, ruin, and reinvention — from Olympic dreams crushed by a career-ending accident to seeing her multi-million-dollar business threatened by organized crime and shut down by the FBI. Her grit, resilience, and self-determination story has been called a “goosebump experience,” inspiring corporate audiences and winning stellar reviews.

Why Molly Bloom?

As acclaimed screenwriter and director Aaron Sorkin said, “She gives the audience a goosebump experience.” Few speakers share a riveting, celebrity-packed, or inspirational story as Molly Bloom’s. When it comes to resilience, reinvention, and re-setting mindsets to achieve your vision, Molly’s life storytelling brings audiences to their providing a playbook for success that is as actionable as it is inspiring. It's no wonder she was named one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women and has received rave reviews from corporate audiences, including Adobe, Blackrock Financial, Blackstone, Cisco, Dell, Sirius XM Radio, Uber, and Zendesk.

About Molly Bloom

A luminary in the world of inspirational keynote speakers, Molly Bloom, is an entrepreneur, bestselling author, a former member of the U.S. Ski Team, one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women, and host of the two-time Gold Signal award-winning podcast “Torched,” featuring the inspiring stories of world-class competitive athletes. She achieved fame as the subject of Aaron Sorkin’s Oscar-nominated film Molly’s Game, based on her bestselling memoir. Molly’s Game chronicles Bloom’s journey from college student and former Olympic skiing hopeful to LA waitress to head of the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game. With no-limit stakes that could top $100 million and celebrity players such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, A-Rod, and Tobey Maguire, “Molly’s Game” was a Hollywood-worthy achievement for a 25-year-old small-town Colorado girl.

More about Molly Bloom

Bloom’s first career was as a world-class skier, an achievement that defied the dire prognosis of medical experts. At age 12, she had been diagnosed with severe scoliosis, undergoing spinal fusion surgery that doctors said would prevent her from ever competing again. Defiant and determined, Bloom was back on the slopes in a year. At 19, she made the U.S. Ski Team. At 20, she was #3 in North America in the moguls. At 21, Bloom was firmly on the path to the Olympics. In her qualifying run, a frozen pine bough caused one of her skis to release, leading to a devastating crash and a forced retirement from the sport she loved.

Bloom finished her political science degree at the University of Colorado and was applying to elite law schools when she decided to take a year-long sabbatical and move to LA. She found work as a waitress and personal assistant to a man who ran a high-stakes poker game frequented by celebrities. Teaching herself the business and forging essential relationships, Bloom took the risk of going out on her own. “Molly’s Game” was born. Over the next six years, she went from running a multi-million-dollar business to being raided by the FBI. Even in the face of extreme adversity, she always maintained her integrity. 

With her millions gone and life in ruins, Bloom set her mind to writing a book. Publishers were interested, but only if she named names. Continuing her promise to never again compromise her integrity or lower her moral standards, Bloom persevered until she found a publisher to work with her on her terms. Molly’s Game became a bestselling memoir that convinced Oscar-winning screenwriter and director Aaron Sorkin to turn into an Academy Award-winning movie.

Today, Molly Bloom is a top-booked speaker, podcast host, mother, mentor to other women, and advocate. She has appeared on Ellen, Vice, NPR, Vulture, and in The Los Angeles Times and Forbes. In 2020, at the height of the COVID pandemic, she founded the One World Group with her husband, neuroscientist Devin Effinger. The online group seeks to connect people worldwide, especially women facing challenges. In 2022, Bloom launched “Torched,” a podcast exploring Olympic controversies and the heat of competition. As host, she shares stories about the cost of greatness, both on and off the Olympic stage — from the Tour de France to Title IX to the World Cup. 

Molly Bloom is the perfect speaker for our upcoming CPA.lub meetup, and here's why. With her extensive experience and expertise in creating a unique customer culture, she is poised to deliver an engaging and enlightening presentation that will captivate our audience. Molly's insights into making the world of gaming so exclusive that everyone wants to be a part of it are truly remarkable. In her dynamic talk, she will demonstrate how to cultivate customer retention so powerfully that even players who may have lost their entire bankroll will be irresistibly drawn back into the game. Molly Bloom's ability to inspire and educate aligns perfectly with the goals of our meetup, making her an exceptional choice to share her knowledge and insights with our community. Take the chance to hear from this outstanding speaker at our event.